cheaper, Faster, Better: Commerical Approaches to Weapons Acquisiton - Softcover

Lorell, Mark A.

9780833027962: cheaper, Faster, Better: Commerical Approaches to Weapons Acquisiton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0833027964 ISBN 13: 9780833027962

Publisher: RAND Corporation, 2000

Civilmilitary integration (CMI) lies at the core of current DoD efforts to reduce the costs of procuring and maintaining modern weapon systems. Based on an analysis of the commercial aerospace industry and on the experiences of various acquisition reform pilot programs, the authors conclude that a commerciallike acquisition approach could benefit major Air force acquisition programs. The Joint Strike Fighter would be an excellent candidate pilot program for application of acquisition reform measures during engineering and manufacturing development. The authors further recommend that future programs be structured to include greater risksharing between contractors and the government. The principal benefits of CMI for the acquisition reform pilot programs have come from the structuring and management of these programs to make them more like complex commercial product markets in which buyers and sellers establish and achieve price and performance targets in a cooperative environment. The real promise of CMI is to help insert the incentives for price discipline and high performance prevalent in the commercial marketplace into military R&D production.

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From the Publisher:

This report discusses the issues surrounding more effective utiliza-tionof the civilian industrial base by the Department of Defense(DoD) and the U.S. Air Force. The first section of the report focuseson the "dual-use" nature of civilian and military technologies, andthe potential for integrating the civilian and military industrial bases.The technology area studied, radar-related and other radio-frequencymicrowave devices, has traditionally been defense-specific.The second section of the report identifies mechanisms forminimizing the risks of inadequate product performance andexcessively high cost in less-regulated commercial market en-vironments.It discusses how well these mechanisms have worked ina defense-relevant commercial sector-the large transport aircraftindustry-as well as in several experimental and pilot programs ini-tiatedby the Air Force and other defense agencies and services.Most of the information and data for the material in this report wereacquired through interviews with government and program man-agersand officials, and with industry officials. In addition to casestudies and a wide array of published materials and other sources,the authors draw on a larger body of RAND research on the future ofthe defense industrial base.This research was sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretaryof the Air Force for Acquisition. It took place within the ResourceManagement and System Acquisition Program of RAND's Project AIRFORCE. It should be of interest to government and industry person-nelconcerned with weapon system acquisition, military acquisitionreform, and avionics R&D strategies.PROJECT AIR FORCEProject AIR FORCE, a division of RAND, is the Air Force federallyfunded research and development center (FFRDC) for studies andanalyses. It provides the Air Force with independent analyses ofpolicy alternatives affecting the development, employment, combatreadiness, and support of current and future aerospace forces.Research is performed in four programs: Aerospace ForceDevelopment; Manpower, Personnel, and Training; ResourceManagement; and Strategy and Doctrine.

About the Author:

Mark A. Lorell is a senior analyst in the international studies group at Rand whose research interests include weapon system acquisition policies and force structure modernization, and Japanese, Korean and NATO military force structure planning/issues, among other international policy studies. Julia F. Lowell (Ph.D., Economics (1992) University of California, Berkeley) is an economist, Rand. Michael Kennedy (Ph.D., Economics, Harvard University) is an associate director, Aerospace Force Development Program, Project AIR FORCE Division, Rand.

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